The Techniques Used By Efl Teachers To Teach Writing To Deaf Students: A Case Study At One Mainstream School And Two Special Schools In Tizi-ouzou And Béjaia

Résumé: The current study investigates the techniques used by EFL teachers to teach writing to deaf learners. The aim of the study is fourfold. First, it attempts to determine the different techniques that EFL teachers use when teaching writing to deaf learners. Second, it intends to identify the difficulties that EFL teachers face while teaching writing to deaf learners. Third, it endeavours to discover how EFL teachers try to overcome these difficulties. Fourth, it seeks to reveal the difficulties encountered by the deaf learners when learning to write. In order to meet the objectives of the study, Kress’s theory of Multimodality is applied. Qualitative data collection and data analysis procedures are used. Data are collected using an asynchronous online interview conducted with four EFL teachers of deaf learners in one mainstream high school and two special middle schools in Tizi-Ouzou and Béjaia. The obtained findings are analysed using Qualitative Content Analysis. The results reveal that EFL teachers adopt different visual techniques and materials to teach writing to deaf learners for instance illustration, sign language and gestures. In addition, the findings indicate that teachers encounter challenges during the process of teaching writing to deaf learners such as repetition, deaf learners unfamiliarity with words, and deaf learners different ways of understanding. The results also revealed that deaf learners face difficulties in their process of learning writing like the lack of motivation, the incapacity to form complete sentences and to write words without their visual demonstration. However, teachers try to overcome these challenges by using various ways for example the use of repeated simple activities, adopting different ways of explanation, and interviewing the deaf learners’ parents. Based on the results, the study recommends teachers to remain patient and keep looking for innovative techniques to teach writing to deaf learners.

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